Councils need £12bn to bring roads ‘up to scratch’

Roads are deteriorating faster than they can be repaired and it would need more than £12bn to bring them up to scratch, council leaders have warned.

The Local Government Association (LGA) says a lack of funding has left councils 'trapped in a frustrating cycle' and it would take more than ten years just to catch up with the repairs needed.

The warning follows the annual survey carried out by the Asphalt Industry Alliance, which found that one in six local roads in England and Wales will need to be repaired or closed within the next five years.

The 2017 Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey said councils were on average short of £4.3m each to repair their roads properly.

Cllr Judith Blake, transport spokesperson at the LGA, said it was becoming 'increasingly urgent' to address the roads crisis.

'Local authorities fixed a pothole every 19 seconds again last year despite significant budget reductions leaving them with less to spend on fixing our crumbling roads,’ she said

'Councils are proving remarkably efficient in how they use this diminishing funding pot but they remain trapped in a frustrating cycle that will only ever leave them able to patch up our deteriorating roads.'